Hegarty, Susan;
Hayes, Anna;
Regan, Fiona;
Bishop, Isabel;
Clinton, Ruth;
(2021)
Using citizen science to understand river water quality while filling data gaps to meet United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 objectives.
Science of The Total Environment
, 783
, Article 146953. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146953.
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Abstract
This study investigates water quality along the river Liffey in Dublin city with the help of citizen scientists, including the community of river users such as paddle boarders and those accessing the river from the bank. The primary objective was to evaluate water quality near sources of pollution observed by citizens, while filling data gaps for the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, Indicator 6.3.2. The participants used field chemistry kits to measure nitrate (NO₃-N) and phosphate (PO₄-P) at 19 locations on a monthly basis over the course of nine months, recording the results on a smartphone app. 10% of nitrate samples were indicative of low quality water values while 35.6% of phosphate samples were indicative of low quality water. Rainfall over the study period was analysed to investigate the impact of run-off from rainwater on the river. Results indicated that excessive rainfall was not a factor in lower water quality in this area. Citizen scientists' observational notes and photographs entered onto the database, with accompanying test results were key to highlighting pollution sources at specific locations which correlated with high levels of nitrate and phosphate resulting in low quality water. Land use was a factor in these areas of recent housing development indicating possible domestic misconnections. Citizen scientist data has the potential to fulfil UN SDG 6, in contributing to Indicator 6.3.2 while detecting contamination.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Using citizen science to understand river water quality while filling data gaps to meet United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 objectives |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146953 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146953 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) |
| Keywords: | SDG Indicator 6.3.2, River-user volunteers, Nutrient pollution, Land use, River inputs, Qualitative data |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10143928 |
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